Box Score Game Stats (pdf)
"Inside Wofford Football"
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford College football team posted a 43-14 win over The Citadel on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Hagood Stadium. The Terriers had five different players score rushing touchdowns in the contest, which was the 13th straight win over the Bulldogs in the series.
The Terriers are 4-1 on the season and 3-0 in the SoCon. The Citadel is 2-3 overall and 1-3 in the conference. Wofford was led by Eric Breitenstein with 106 rushing yards and he was one of five players to score a touchdown. Mitch Allen, Donovan Johnson, Bryan Youman, and Alex Dunmire also added rushing touchdowns. The Citadel was led by Terrance Martin with 55 rushing yards and a touchdown.
“We worked really hard this week and we felt that The Citadel was a dangerous football team,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “Anytime you can come back from 27-points down and win a football game, you are dangerous. We knew going in that they would pose some problems as far as defending us and we knew they had some things that they could do to try and exploit the defense and we knew they were sound in the kicking game. In that first half, we were money. We stayed away from penalties, we executed and did a great job up front.”
Wofford opened the game with the ball and went on a 13-play, 73 yard drive that was capped by Mitch Allen with a five yard run. Wofford converted one fourth down on the drive for a 7-0 lead with 9:24 left in the first quarter. The Terrier defense forced a three-and-out and the Bulldogs punted. Brenton Bersin took the punt back 76 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 7:07 on the clock.
On the next drive by the Bulldogs, they gained three first downs. On fourth-and-six, a pass attempt by Ben Dupree was incomplete after James Zotto leveled the receiver, who dropped the ball. The Terriers picked up one first down before punting. The Citadel had two first downs before punting the ball back to Wofford, which was downed at the one-yard line.
Wofford covered the 99-yards needed on the next drive in just ten plays as Bryan Youman scored his second career touchdown from 15-yards out to give the Terriers a 21-0 lead with 5:25 left in the first half. The Citadel was forced three-and-out and punted on their next possession.
On the fourth drive of the first half for the Terriers, Eric Breitenstein capped off an 82-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run for a 28-0 lead with 1:03 remaining in the half. The Citadel gained two first downs before a sack by Alex Goltry for a loss of 12 yards ended the half.
The Citadel opened the second half with a first down, but a fumbled snap was recovered by Alex Goltry. Wofford drove 41-yard in six plays and scored on a one-yard touchdown run by Donovan Johnson. After a botched snap on the PAT, the Terriers led 34-0 with 10:31 left in the third quarter.
With the ball back, the Bulldogs went for it on fourth-and-two, but the run was stopped. Brian Kass entered the game at quarterback, but on his first drive the Terriers were forced to punt. The Citadel returned the favor with a three-and-out punt as well. Wofford then used a 41-yard pass from Kass to Jeff Ashley to get inside the five-yard line. However on fourth-and-goal from the one, the Terriers were stopped and turned it over on downs.
The Citadel drive started at the two-yard line and SeQuan Stanley recorded a safety to give Wofford a 36-0 lead. The Terriers got the ball back, but went three-and-out. The Citadel fumbled on their next possession, which was recovered by Jeremy Holt at the 22-yard line. The Terriers needed only three plays to score on a six-yard touchdown run by Alex Dunmire. Wofford had a 43-0 lead with 12:44 on the clock in the fourth quarter after Dunmire’s first career touchdown.
The Bulldogs finally got on the scoreboard with 10:02 remaining in the game when Terrance Martin scored from ten-yards out to make it a 43-7 contest. Wofford turned the ball over on downs after failing on fourth-and-one with 7:21 left on the clock. The Bulldogs added a second touchdown with 1:27 left in the game on a four-yard run by Byron Anderson to make it a 43-14 final score.
Wofford had 413 total yards, with 343 on the ground. The Citadel had 238 yards, 209 of which were passing. Wofford had the time of possession advantage by a 30:25 to 29:35 margin. Wofford was 2-of-9 on third downs and 1-of-3 on fourth down. The Citadel was 2-of-12 on third down and converted 3-of-5 fourth downs.
Next weekend the Terriers will step out of conference and host UVa.-Wise at 1:30 pm at Gibbs Stadium. Tickets are available by calling 864-597-4090 or online at www.woffordterriers.com.
Wofford vs. The Citadel Post-Game Notes
Eric Breitenstein rushed for 106 yards, the fourth time this season with over 100 yards. The only game he has not rushed for over 100 yards was at Clemson. It marks his 14th career 100+ rushing game, which is tied for third in school history.
The 76-yard punt return for Brenton Bersin was the longest of his career. It was the first punt return for a touchdown for Wofford since Brandon Berry had a 97-yard return for a touchdown on November 4, 2006 against Georgia Southern.
The safety by SeQuan Stanley in the third quarter was the first for Wofford since November 7, 2009, which was also at The Citadel.
Game captains were Alex Goltry and Montae Monroe.
Wofford has now won 13 straight games against The Citadel. The Terriers also scored 43 points in the 2009 meeting in Charleston.
The game marked the 300th career game as a head coach. His overall record is now 169-129-2 that includes 24 years at Wofford and three seasons at ETSU.
Attendance was 12,316 at Johnson Hagood Stadium.
